In this study, APEO-free alternatives provide emulsification during the polymerization equal to the industrial standard, NPE ether sulfate, as a “drop in” replacement.
However, alternative surfactants are desired to expand the formulators’ surfactant options and give materials that are free of APEOs. Previous works showed that narrow-range alcohol ethoxylates, based on different hydrophobic feedstocks, are effective APEO alternatives as nonionics in emulsion polymerization. By exploiting the nonionic work, new APEO-free ether sulfates have been developed that yield emulsion polymerization characteristics similar to that of the APEO-based ether sulfates. Thus, the following work compares and contrasts standard industrial APEO anionic emulsifiers with new non-APEO-based alternative anionic surfactants in model systems.